The Agua Caliente Cultural Museum is proud to announce the films selected for this year’s Festival of Native Film & Culture. This highly-anticipated cultural celebration runs Wednesday, March 5 through Sunday, March 9. The Festival will be presented by the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum. All screenings and receptions are at the Camelot Theatres.
Now in its seventh season, the Festival of Native Film and Culture (formerly the Native American Film Festival & Cultural Weekend) is one of the nation’s most highly-regarded festivals of its kind – showcasing the best in films by, about, and starring Native people. The 2008 Festival will include feature films, documentaries, and short films from some of today’s premiere Native American and international indigenous filmmakers. Originating in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Sweden, and the United States, these works illustrate the diversity of Native cultures – their amazing beauty and time-honored traditions. This year, the outstanding lineup of evocative and entertaining films covers a wide range of subjects, from a documentary focusing on two far-flung artists as they journey to each other’s home countries for a vibrant cultural exchange to a fascinating behind the scenes look at the “Miss Navajo” contest.
Michael Hammond, Executive Director of the Auga Caliente Cultural Museum, said of the 2008 Festival: “We’re especially excited about the international mix of outstanding films chosen by Festival programmer Thomas Ethan Harris. This year, our full lineup of compelling films covers a wide range of subjects that showcase the diversity of Native cultures, and their amazing beauty and traditions, while suggesting that the struggles of ‘first peoples’ around the world are often rooted in similar challenges such as colonialism, land rights, and environmental concerns.”
Leading up to the Festival, Agua Caliente Cultural Museum will present live Native performances at VillageFest in downtown Palm Springs on Thursday evening, February 28.
The Festival officially begins on Wednesday, March 5 at 7:00 p.m. with the OPENING NIGHT RECEPTION AND FILM (Screening at 8:00 p.m.) FOUR SHEETS TO THE WIND - a beautifully crafted film that premiered at Sundance Film Festival and has received many awards at this year’s American Indian Festival including ‘Best Director’ Sterlin Harjo and ‘Best Actor’ Cody Lightning. Set under the clear Oklahoma skies, the film is a poignant and wryly humorous story of familial healing, reunification and transformation following the death of one family’s patriarch, and ultimately emerges as an eloquent testament to the power of emotional openness, courage based in love, and the modern traditions of the Indian experience. Writer/director Sterlin Harjo, Cody Lightning, Jeri Arredondo, Tamara Podemski, Laura Bailey, Richard Ray Whitman, Christian Kane, Mike Randleman, star.
Thursday, March 6, 5:00 p.m.
A PLACE BETWEEN: THE STORY OF AN ADOPTION (Canada, Documentary)
An emotionally- driven personal documentary where one man’s reconciliation between biological and adoptive families of different ethnicities and cultures leads to a rigorous re-awakening of how to deal with the loss of a traditional Native identity. Curtis Kaltenbaugh, director.
Thursday, March 6, 8:00 p.m.
MARIA TALLCHIEF (United States, Documentary)
An accomplished biography of Maria Tallchief, the legendary Native American ballerina who began dance lessons at age four in Oklahoma and left her Osage Indian Community shortly thereafter to find stardom in the Big Apple. Later, Tallchief later became nearly immortal by helping to establish the New York City Ballet while serving as the muse for her husband/choreographer, George Balanchine (The Nutcracker). Sandra Osawa, director.
On Friday, March 7 at 5:00 p.m., the Festival will feature two exclusive screenings beginning with the North American premiere of HERDSWOMAN, a compelling Swedish documentary that focuses on Aina, Elisabeth, and Lisa, three Sámi herdswomen of different generations who are powerfully determined to continue living traditional lives and exercising their ancient right to access reindeer pastureland in Sweden. Kine Boman, director.
Friday’s 8:00 p.m. screening will highlight the ‘centerpiece film’ of the Festival, the United States premiere of TKARONTO in which the desire for a more authentic Native identity erupts when an unexpected emotional connection grows between a married Métis writer and a married Anishnabe painter. Writer/director Shane Belcourt, Melanie McLaren, Duane Murray, Lorne Cardinal, and Cheri Maracle, star.
Saturday, March 8 at 5:00 p.m. offers a special documentary double-bill beginning with KILLER WHALE AND CROCODILE, a documentary feature that follows two artists, one from British Columbia and one from Papua New Guinea, as they journey to each other’s home countries for a vibrant cultural exchange of traditional art making processes. Peter Campbell, director. This screening is accompanied by the West Coast premiere of WEAVING WORLDS, which explores the intricate relationships between Navajo rug weavers and reservation traders. The delicate balance between maintaining cultural traditions, economic survival, and artistic validation are examined in this fascinating documentary that highlights Navajo tales of “how the West was spun.” Bennie Klain, director.
OUR LAND, OUR LIFE, winner of the ‘Best Documentary’ prize at the American Indian Festival, will be screened on Saturday, March 8 at 8:00 p.m. This eloquent and visually striking documentary is a portrait of Carrie and Mary Dann, two elderly Shoshone sisters, whose 30-year battle with United States government over the rights to their own land has taken them to the Supreme Court…and beyond. George Gage, Beth Gage, directors.
Sunday afternoon March 9 at 5:00 p.m. the Festival presents MISS NAVAJO, a fascinating behind-the-scenes documentary focused on the crowning of “Miss Navajo” where contestants are judged on their inner beauty, how fluent they are in Navajo, and their proficiency in the skills essential to daily traditional tribal life: frying bread, weaving rugs, and butchering sheep. Billy Luther, director. Following the film will be a closing night reception at 7:00 p.m.
Concluding the Festival is a special closing-night film on Sunday, March 9 at 8:00 p.m. that promises to leave an uplifting last impression. WATER FLOWING TOGETHER is a candid, intimate portrait of ballet great Jock Soto. The film follows Soto, one of the most recognizable and influential dancers of the America stage, from his early roots on a remote Arizona reservation, through a career filled with triumphant performances, to his tremendously emotional retirement from the New York City ballet at age 40 in 2005. Gwendolen Cates, director.
In keeping with the Museum’s mission of education and community outreach, ticket prices for the Festival are very reasonably priced. All screenings are $8.50 for adults and $6.50 for seniors (55+) and children/youth 16 and under. This has been made possible through underwriting provided by generous sponsors. Tickets are on sale now at the Camelot Theatres Box Office located at 2300 E. Baristo Road in Palm Springs. For ticket information and purchase, call the Box office at 760-325-6565.
For more information about the Festival, please call 760-778-1079, Ext. 101.
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